Sean Doolittle and his ‘lefty quirk’

Sean Doolittle has traveled an unusual path to the major leagues. Here’s a little nugget that didn’t make it into my story from this morning’s paper. If you’ve seen Doolittle pitch, you’ve noticed his unusual setup when he’s in the stretch. The lefty reliever tucks his glove under his chin with his right elbow jutting out toward home plate. The reason? Doolittle says he likes the glove under his chin because it helps him focus in on the catcher as he’s getting the signals. As for the elbow, he has no idea why that happens and he said he wasn’t even aware of it until some friends started pointing it out recently. “Since then, several people have been like, ‘You gotta keep it, that’s your thing. That’s your little lefty quirk,'” Doolittle said with amusement. “I don’t even think about it when I’m out there.”

–Outfielder Seth Smith will know the landscape of Coors Field better than anyone on the A’s, being he spent his first five seasons with the Rockies. Smith insists that the thin air and high altitude isn’t what helps hitters out the most at the ballpark. He said it’s the spacious outfield. “The advantage for hitters is that the outfield is so big, you get a lot of hits there. For the most part, the home runs are fair. But base hits and extra base hits-wise, (hitters have the advantage).”

Bartolo Colon, who starts tonight for the A’s, has pitched just once previously at Coors Field. It came in 2002, when he threw 6 2/3 innings and allowed three runs to get the win for the Cleveland Indians.